


Familiar Desperately Seeking Witch

by mostlovedgirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Actual Cat Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Familiar Chat Noir, Fluff, Gen, Magic AU, One Shot, Origin Story, Witch Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22747405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlovedgirl/pseuds/mostlovedgirl
Summary: He was sobored.He spent his life sitting in Fu's Magical Menagerie, watching young apprentice witches and wizards choose other animals to be their familiars. No one was ever interested in a black cat as their magical partner. That all changed when a young apprentice witch with bluebell eyes came into the shop.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Chat Noir
Comments: 56
Kudos: 360





	Familiar Desperately Seeking Witch

He was _soooo_ bored. 

B. O. R. E. D. Bored. 

Day after day he napped on the counter of the noisy, smelly shop. There was nothing else to do. No friends. No other cats to play with. And for _some_ reason, Master Fu would get upset if he ever tried to get into the mice or bird cages. It wasn’t like he was going to _eat_ one. He just wanted to play a bit. 

An itch on his chest prompted him to lick at the short, black fur there before laying his head down and closing his eyes again. There was literally _nothing_ to do but eat and sleep. 

Sure, for a more mature cat this would be the ideal life, but he was young and needed more excitement in his life.

At least he had a patch of sunlight to lay in. That was something. 

The bell over the door rang as some customers came in. It was a group of three, from the sounds of it. Another young apprentice witch or wizard with their parents, probably. They had been coming in more frequently with the new school term about to start. 

He didn’t bother to look. They would be here for one of the other familiars, not him. No one was ever interested in him. 

He nestled his head further between his front paws and tried to sleep as Master Fu came from the back room. 

“Good day to you,” the elderly man said in his faint Asian accent. “Welcome to Master Fu’s Magical Menagerie and Pet Shop. How can I help you today?”

“Master Fu,” a cheery female voice said, “it's an honor. Our daughter was recently identified as having potential to become a witch and will be starting magic school soon. We’re here for her to pick her familiar.”

Yep. Same old routine. 

“Of course,” Fu responded. “Come here, young lady.”

A small set of footsteps shuffled closer.

“What is your name?” Fu asked kindly. 

“Marinette,” a timid voice responded. 

One of his ears involuntarily flicked toward the girl’s voice. For some reason, he started paying slightly more attention to the conversation. Slightly. 

“How old are you?” Fu asked. 

“Thirteen, sir,” the girl answered. 

“Has your magical affinity been assessed yet?”

“No, sir. I just had my evaluation yesterday.”

“I see.” Fu reached under the counter and produced a large bundle that smelled like old leather. The contents clinked against each other as the old man set it heavily on the counter with a soft thud. “How much do you know about magic?”

“Every magic user has an affinity for a certain type of magic,” the girl replied promptly. “Each magic type has a patron kwami. There are nineteen kwamis in all. A witch or wizard needs a familiar in order to perform magic. Each familiar species and magic type is specific to a patron kwami.”

It was like she had swallowed the introductory page on Magicpedia.

“Correct,” Fu said. “For instance, I have an affinity for protection magic bestowed by my patron kwami, Wayzz. My familiar is the magnificent Jade Turtle!” Fu said grandly, proudly showing off the giant, ancient, green tortoise parked in the corner.

There was a pause.

“My, my,” Fu said. “I haven’t seen JT react that strongly to an apprentice in years. You must be a very special young lady.”

“Uh, all he did was blink at me before retreating into his shell.” The girl sounded confused.

“Exactly! He must like you a great deal. Now, these crystals,” Fu said, moving on as he unrolled the bundle, “will allow me to assess your affinity. Take your time and see if any of them feel different to you.”

No one spoke as the girl picked through the various irregular crystals. Each had its own color and was about eight centimeters long. He had seen them enough times that they no longer held any interest for him. The black one would spark a little with veins of green light and smell faintly like really stinky cheese the times Fu had let him nose them, but otherwise they weren’t very interesting.

He heard muffled clinks as the girl inspected the large selection. A bright flash of pink light disturbed him enough for him to look up, ears perked, all senses on alert at the disruption. 

A pale, petite girl with shoulder length blue-black hair done in pigtails was staring wide-eyed at the red crystal she held in her hand. A slight breeze ruffled her thick bangs and the ends of her pigtails, and the air smelled like… sugar?

That was new. This girl must have an affinity he hadn’t witnessed before. Most kids smelled like dirt after their affinity test. 

“Oh, my,” Fu said, excitedly. 

“What is it?” the female voice from before asked. 

The cat turned his attention to the other adults in the shop. It was like someone had decided to make an example of the adage that ‘opposites attract’ when these two got together. 

The girl’s mother was a short Asian woman with stormy gray eyes and a round face. 

Her father was almost too big for the shop. He was tall and broad with brown hair and mustache. The intimidating image was ruined by the wonder shining in his eyes. This man was a teddy bear, and he smelled like bread. 

“You have an affinity for creation magic,” Fu explained 

The family of three started in surprise. It was kind of funny to see them react in sync. 

Fu continued, “Very few apprentices catch the eye of the ladybug kwami. You should feel honored.”

“A tier-one kwami?” the girl whispered. The news obviously hadn’t set in yet. 

“Please wait here. I usually don’t keep beetle familiars in stock, but I may have a few potential candidates in the back.” Fu stepped behind a curtain draped over the doorway behind the counter. The cat could hear him rummaging around among the pet supplies. 

He stared at the girl, studying her. She had a faint dusting of freckles across her cheeks and nose, and the bluest irises he had ever seen. 

She reached out a hand, and he sniffed her fingers warily. She smelled like cookies. He gave the tip of her finger a lick. She didn’t taste like cookies, though. Pity. 

The girl took his actions as permission to pet him. She ran her fingers over the top of his head a few times before scratching behind an ear. Oh, he could get used to this. A little purr was starting to build in his chest.

“What’s your name?” the girl asked him. 

“He doesn’t have a name,” Fu answered from the back. There was clearly nothing wrong with the old man’s hearing. “Familiars don’t receive a name until they are claimed by their partner.” Fu’s voice became clearer as he returned from the back and set a smelly box on the counter. It contained a handful of black and red beetles. “Now let’s see here…” Fu muttered as he started unlatching the lid from the clear bug box.

“That’s too bad you don’t have a name,” Marinette said to him. “You’re a handsome _chat noir._ ”

A shot of electricity sparked on the tip of his nose, making him sneeze. 

Marinette let out a yelp and retracted her hand like she had been burned from where she had been petting his back.

“What happened?” asked Fu sternly. 

“I don’t know,” the girl said, rubbing her palm with her other hand reflexively. “I got a shock all of a sudden.” She sounded confused and a little fearful.

The cat stood on all four paws and shivered, working the uncomfortable spark that traveled from his nose, down to the tip of his tail, and out of his body. With that finished, he lay on his belly again and tucked in his paws. The end of his tail twitched back and forth. 

“What did you say to him, exactly?” Fu's eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration. He was acting like a little static shock was a serious matter.

“I just said it was too bad he didn’t have a name and called him a handsome black cat!” The girl was gesticulating wildly with her arms as she spoke. 

“Oh my,” Fu said again. He looked at him, “Congratulations. You finally have a partner, Chat Noir.”

“What?!” the girl exclaimed.

“What?!” the parents echoed.

 _'What?'_ he thought, confused. This girl couldn’t be his partner. She just couldn’t. She wasn’t one of Plagg’s kids.

“But, Master Fu,” the burly man spoke up for the first time, “how can that be? You said our daughter has an affinity _creation_ magic, not destruction,” he reasoned.

“The powers of creation and destruction are unique among the magic sets,” Fu explained. “They exist together in a delicate balance. The universe cannot have one without the other. Usually the birth of a creation magician is accompanied by one of a destruction magician. However, there is precedence for another scenario, though it is rare. Instead of two such witches or wizards, sometimes the magic is balanced by pairing a creation magic user with a destruction familiar or vice versa.

The girl looked from his eyes to Master Fu. “So...,” she said hesitantly, “he’s my familiar? And I accidentally named him Chat Noir just now?”

“Yes,” Fu said with a slight bow of his head. “Please take good care of him. Remember that he is not a pet. He is a familiar. He will be your partner as you learn to use magic together. He is as intelligent as any human, but will still have feline needs and tendencies. He can understand everything you say, but you will need to learn to interpret how he communicates. He is a special one and has been lonely sitting in this shop for far too long.”

Marinette and the cat considered each other for a while before the girl spoke again. “I will. I promise. Thank you, Master.”

“Very good. Now, let’s get you all the other supplies you will need.” 

Fu began assembling a pile with a cat bed, food and water dishes, etc. The girl’s mother picked out a scratching post while her father started reading labels on cat food.

Marinette held out her arms to the cat in invitation. “Want to come choose a collar?” she asked kindly.

A collar? For _him?_ Was this really happening? 

Chat Noir rose to his paws and cautiously stepped into the girl’s arms. Marinette scratched behind his ears as she carried him over to the display of animal collars. There were all different colors and sizes, from small harnesses for lizards to chunky collars for large dogs. 

Marinette stopped before the section of smaller cat collars. “Do you like this one? It matches your eyes.” She pointed to a bright green woven one with a shiny silver buckle. It had a pattern of little black paw prints around the band. Chat Noir flicked his tail. He thought it was okay, but not quite what he wanted.

He reached out a paw and poked at a slim, black leather collar with a golden bell and a black buckle. He liked the little tinkling sound it made when he pawed at it.

“This one?” Marinette asked, pointing at it. He mewed in response. “Okay then.” She picked up the collar and brought it to the counter.

“Go ahead and put it on him,” Fu said as he tallied up all their purchases.

Marinette gently set Chat Noir on the counter and removed the tag from the collar. She opened the clasp and held it out to him. “May I?”

He sat still as the girl fastened the leather strip around his neck. She adjusted it until the bell hung centered on his throat. This was really happening. 

“Let’s go home.”

* * *

Chat Noir perched in Marinette’s arms as they walked through the side door of a bakery. So that’s why the Dupain-Chengs smelled like bread. They lived in a bakery; or, more precisely, above one.

“Welcome to Tom and Sabine’s Boulangerie Patisserie,” Marinette said proudly. “Please stay out of the bakery. I know it’s unfair, but a health inspector could shut us down if they found cat hair in the dough.” 

Chat Noir wrinkled his nose.

“Why don’t you show him around upstairs, dear,” Sabine suggested. “Your father and I need to get back to work. You can set up his things in your room.”

“Yes, Maman. Come on, Chat.” 

She took him up a back set of stairs to a cozy living space. Chat Noir leapt down from her arms and started exploring, sniffing the furniture and rubbing his side against some of it, leaving traces of his scent. 

“My room’s this way.” Marinette led him up another set of stairs and through a trapdoor. 

It was a nice size room in shades of pink. Almost everything was pink. The walls were pink. The chaise lounge was pink. The desk chairs were pink. The duvet on the bed in the loft was pink. There was a lot of pink.

The walls were plastered with papers. Many looked like design sketches for clothing. A large poster for some musician called Jagged Stone was tacked to the wall behind the chaise. A cork board above the loft bed was reserved for cards and photos of what appeared to be family and friends.

Chat Noir liked the room. It didn’t feel cramped for an attic space with its high ceiling. It felt cozy. There were throw pillows on the bed and chaise. As a cat, he appreciated comfy spaces to curl up in. 

First things first, he rubbed his face and sides on his girl’s legs as he circled them in a figure-eight pattern a few times. Then he set to work sniffing and rubbing his scent on the rest of the room. If this was going to be his territory, it ought to smell like it.

Marinette set his bed on the floor next to her desk, placed his scratching post in a corner, and found a basket for his new cat toys. With that finished, she turned to him and said, “Come on. You haven’t even seen the best part yet.”

He followed her up to the loft and sat on her bed. She reached up and pushed open a skylight, then climbed up through the gap, and held the hatch open for Chat Noir to leap through. 

He blinked. They were on a balcony with a view of the city. He leapt onto the wrought iron railing surrounding the balcony.

“Be careful!” Marinette shouted. 

He could see Notre-Dame and the Seine nearby. There were people below and open sky above. 

It was perfect. So absolutely perfect. 

“Do you like it?” Marinette asked. 

She almost didn’t catch him when he sprang at her with no warning. She overbalanced and crashed into a deck chair with a yelp, her cat tucked safe in her arms. 

He nuzzled her face, purring happily. 

Marinette chuckled. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

Chat Noir licked the tip of her nose and brushed his whiskers against her face one more time before curling into her arms and looking out over the city once again. 

She started scratching behind his ears. His eyes fell half-closed in contentment and his purring kicked up a notch. 

“I’m glad you’re happy, _Minou_ ,” she whispered.

Finally, he was home.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my WIPs for a _long_ time. I figured I might as well share it. I hope you enjoyed! If you feel so inclined, please leave a kudo and a comment. I always enjoy interacting with readers. You can also find me on Tumblr [@chanceuseladynoire](https://chanceuseladynoire.tumblr.com/).  
> -mlg ♡


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